


Once a Week Forever

by ladyofreylo



Series: Reylogan Stories [5]
Category: Logan Lucky (2017), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Army, Clyde's hand, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, HEA, Happily Ever After, Happy Ending, Love Story, Marriage, Oral Sex, PTSD, Rekindled Romance, Reylogan, Romance, Sex, Smut, Trust Issues, high school sweethearts, no pregnancy or babies, veteran
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:53:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24524158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofreylo/pseuds/ladyofreylo
Summary: Rey crawled up on Clyde's big lap, dug her hands in his long, soft hair, and twined her tongue with his.He dumped her off him with a tortured groan.“Leave me be, girl.  I’m not who I was when we were in high school and neither are you.  We can’t just pick up where we left off.”Rey and Clyde are former high school sweeties.  Rey comes home to Boone County for good after graduate school--and wants her man back.  He only seems to want her once a week--on Friday night, after the bar closes down.  Will she accept his terms or negotiate for full-time love?
Relationships: Clyde Logan & Rey (Star Wars), Clyde Logan/Rey (Star Wars), Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Reylogan Stories [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741774
Comments: 34
Kudos: 187
Collections: ReylOlds, The Sisters of Smut





	Once a Week Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to MTMagni for allowing me to borrow her great premise of Once a Week and for helping me write about trust. Thanks to jgoose13 (as always) for beta reading.

Rey Johnson remembered the first time she and Clyde met up again after she decided to move back home. Her grandfather told her that the Duck Tape was open and that her old high school sweetie, Clyde Logan, was running it. 

It had been a Friday evening, before the weekend crowd started arriving. Rey had gone to the Duck to see what was up with Clyde and ran straight into the fully-grown version, but with one hand missing from his second tour in Iraq. She’d heard about the injury but Paw said not to come back home because Clyde wished to be left alone. He didn’t welcome any “pity parties.” Therefore, Rey had not laid eyes on her sweetie since high school—something she often regretted.

Rey walked into the Duck with a flounce or two and saw that the grown-up, long-haired, bearded Clyde was incredibly handsome. He was taller and thicker than he’d been in high school but so sexy—now more than ever. She slid her bottom onto a stool and said a big “How-dee-do” to her old boyfriend.

Clyde stretched his arms out wide and put his hands on the bar. “Well, career girl came home.”

“To stay.”

Clyde grunted and stared at her. “Look about the same. Cut your hair off. Didn’t it used to be longer?”

Rey passed her hand over her sleek brown hair. She had brushed and curled it a little before stopping by the Duck. “Yes, sir. I’m a career woman, now, and I got to look that part. I teach over at Boone Community College.”

“Teaching grown folks? What, English?”

“Yep.” Rey gave him a toothy smile.

Clyde drummed his fingers on the bar. He did that when he was thinking—or nervous. Rey watched him and looked up into his impassive face. He knew that she knew what those finger taps meant. He pulled his hands off the bar.

“See my new hand?” He held up the prosthesis with its mechanical grippers. “Jimmy got it for me a couple weeks ago.”

Rey leaned in for a closer look. Clyde demonstrated the pinchers on it. “Are you partial to it?” She looked up into his face.

A smile flitted across his lips for a millisecond. “No, I was partial to the original hand.” His eyes met hers, daring her to say something, daring her to look at him with any expression of sadness or sympathy.

She held her breath and shrugged. She could handle Clyde Logan. “I imagine you were. Thank you for your sacrifice. You always tried to keep me safe.” She held his gaze, daring him to say something about their former relationship. 

He caved first and looked away. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you. I just wanted to say hey.”

“Now you said it. You got to see me.” He took a step back to lean on the countertop behind him.

“Kicking me out, Clyde?” Rey smiled at him. He was always a tad grumpy, even on a good day.

“It’s a free country.”

“And a public establishment.” Rey twisted around on her chair, grabbed the bag with her laptop, and headed for a back table. She heard him mutter “fuck” behind her and smiled to herself.

Clyde raised his voice. “Rey Johnson, you can’t just sit there and make my place your damn office.” A small group of patrons watched with interest, since they had never heard Clyde call out across the room before. He mostly stood behind the wooden bar, pouring drinks and keeping to himself. He ignored their stares in favor of yelling at the woman making herself at home.

“Then kick me the fuck out.” Rey pulled out a chair and yanked out her laptop. “You want me to buy something?”

He glared at her across the room and mumbled something intelligible. Probably another “fuck” or two mixed in.

She stayed until closing. Clyde tried to make her leave, but she ignored his directives and wandered into the back room. She lounged on the couch until he was finished with his chores.

“What is it that you want, Rey?” Clyde stood in the doorway with an annoyed look on his face.

Rey patted the couch. “Talk to me.”

He sat down slowly, leaned back, and spread his big legs out to take up as much space as possible. She had seen that tactic before, too. He was trying to use his big old self to intimidate her. “You talk to me,” he growled.

Rey crawled up on his big lap, dug her hands in his long, soft hair, and twined her tongue with his. He dumped her off him with a tortured groan.

“Leave me be, girl. I’m not who I was when we were in high school and neither are you. We can’t just pick up where we left off.” 

Rey knew Clyde was lying. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he dropped his gaze. She crawled off his lap.

“All right.” She picked up her bag and left him there.

<>

Rey laid low for precisely one week. She was completely undeterred by his attitude, since she knew it took him a minute to come around to her way of thinking. That had been the way things were when they used to date.

Rey was correct. She changed Clyde’s mind when she stayed the next Friday. He eyed her and said it was a temporary situation. She shouldn’t get used to it.

“Why not, Clydie?” Rey was perched on his lap again, naked, with his softening cock sliding out of her.

He pressed his lips together, moved her aside, and started cleaning himself up. He handed her a towel, too.

“Because—you come back home and want to pick right back up like nothing’s changed. Well, our lives did change, everything changed.”

“You don’t have a wife or girlfriend, though. And us being together does not constitute a change in your life. It’s going back to the way it was before.”

“I can’t do that. I’m not that boy anymore, and you’re not that girl. We both left home and did other things. Now, you got it stuck in your mind that I’m the same and I’m not.”

“I don’t think that at all. I think it would be nice to…”

He interrupted her. “It is nice to see you again and now we’ve fucked for old time’s sake. Is there something else?”

“Uh, nope.” Rey leaned in and kissed his grumpy face. She got dressed under his suspicious gaze and left him sitting on the couch.

Rey knew better than to push that man too much, so she backed off for another week and let him miss her. She came back the next Friday night and stuck around until closing. He watched her from the bar, sent Mellie over with a margarita, and nodded at her. They both knew they would end up on the couch together later, drowning in each other’s kisses. Rey wanted him, and he couldn’t resist her. It had always been that way.

Slowly, over the coming weeks, Friday night became theirs. Rey wanted him so desperately—he was her rock here in Boone County. She couldn’t imagine living here without him in her life, but she didn’t push him to do more than fuck on Friday nights. She convinced herself she could be happy with once a week forever. They told no one about their relationship. Tongues wagged freely in this county and the only tongue Rey liked wagging was Clyde’s. Right between her legs. And he was good, so very, very good.

Clyde couldn’t stop himself from enjoying the attention Rey gave him. He seemed content with the arrangement, dodging questions from his family and friends about encounters with his old sweetheart. If those questions happened to fall on a Friday night, Clyde dodged questions while watching Rey across the room. He didn’t talk about their affair, preferring to enjoy her company physically, and she didn’t want to mess it up by demanding something Clyde didn’t want to give.

Sometimes, though, Rey did wonder what it would be like to just—be together. To live together. Or to be married to each other, like other folks.

Yet, they didn’t take the next step. They just met every week—and it looked like it could continue indefinitely. It had become their night. Every Friday. Once a week.

<>

Rey looked up from her laptop. People were staying at the Duck Tape later than usual tonight. She locked eyes with Clyde, who lifted his brows briefly, then went back to his chores.

Joe Bang, one of Clyde’s usual customers, swam into Rey’s vision. “Miss Rey Johnson, how come you sit here every damn Friday night working? You don’t socialize. You just work. Rest of us are getting drunk and you drink exactly one fucking margarita. Then that’s it.”

“Go away, Joe Bang. I’m writing a story about you.” Rey had known this idiot since she was a girl growing up in Boone County. He was always in everybody’s business.

“Ha Ha,” Joe said, but he frowned. He’d been in jail for a number of bad enterprises and had just been released—again. “Now, don’t go writing shit about me, girl.”

“Mellie!” Rey called to a pretty dark-haired woman. “Come get him.”

“Joe,” Mellie hollered, staggering up. She put her arm through his. “Let’s go.”

Rey almost laughed out loud at the last frightened look Joe Bang fired over his shoulder.

Finally, the bar cleared. Rey packed her laptop and brought her margarita glass up to Clyde, who took it without a word.

She did a last scan of the bar to see if there were any lurkers in the corners.

“I’ll lock it up,” she said and went to see about the doors.

Rey dumped her stuff in the back room and stretched herself out on the couch to wait. She heard Clyde whistling as he finished up.

He walked in. “Hey,” he said, softly. He fell on the couch next to her and pulled off his prosthesis.

Rey smiled at him and continued to read her email for a moment. “Hang on,” she said. “Let me answer this.”

“All right.” He unbuttoned his work shirt and kicked off his big boots.

Rey looked up after sending her message to find Clyde practically naked. He shucked his black jeans and bent over to grab them. Rey caught a look at her man’s fine, fine ass. She whistled at him. 

He turned and gazed at her with narrowed eyes. “Like what you see?”

“You know I do, Clyde Logan.” She looked him up and down.

His dick wasn’t standing up quite yet. It lay in his dark hair, twitching like it might be waking. Rey opened her arms and Clyde walked over to put that sweet thing in her face. She nipped at him and grabbed his ass with both hands. She took him in her mouth, listening to his groans. He stroked her hair with one hand.

“Aw, baby girl, that is so good. You know how I like it.”

Rey in fact did know how Clyde liked everything. She’d been sleeping with him for a long time. In high school, when they were dating, Rey and Clyde started making out, then masturbating together, using their mouths to sweeten the deal. Finally, they had awkward, fumbling sex and Clyde rid Rey of her virginity. Clyde would sometimes climb through Rey’s window to quietly fuck her in a bed while her family snored down the hall.

This evening, Rey pleasured Clyde by sucking him in her mouth as far as possible and moving her tongue around him. She cupped his balls and swirled her tongue around the head of his dick. He groaned in satisfaction for a while but pulled himself away eventually.

“You know I want to come inside you, baby.” He sat on the couch. “You have way too many clothes on.” Even one-handed he was able to divest Rey of some clothing. She swatted him away.

“Lord, man, it’s faster if I do it.”

“Why are we being fast, baby girl? We could be slow.”

Rey stopped unbuttoning her shorts. “We could. I’m just saying that I don’t like to see you struggle, is all.”

“Aww,” he said. “You’re my sweet girl. Come on, then.” He opened his arms.

Rey climbed on top of him to brush his long hair back and gaze into his face. His big hand rested on her bottom. She dipped her head to kiss him and their mouths brushed and nuzzled together. Rey remembered their first shy kisses together and smiled. She loved kissing Clyde more than anything. He pulled her down to touch his tongue to hers. Those were good kisses, too. He tasted sweet and salty, always delicious. His tongue was big like the rest of him and seemed to fill her mouth the way his dick filled her cunt.

Rey loved him ridiculously. She never tired of pulling him close, pleasing him, touching him, and wanting him.

With one hand on Rey’s bottom, Clyde urged her upright. She stood on the couch. “Oh, Clyde, you’re crazy. You know I can’t come standing up.”

He nosed her hair and blew on her clit. “I know. That’s the whole point. Don’t want you coming too soon, now, do we?”

“Well, yes we do.” It was hard to think because Clyde had his tongue dipped into her pussy already. He opened the folds with two fingers and urged her forward with his arm. She was leaning up against the wall while he ate her out. It was a bit uncomfortable.

And that was Clyde’s whole goddamn point. Rey discovered that he loved to tease her, slowly building her up until she snapped.

“Fuck.” Her legs were shifting on the worn couch. Clyde was too busy holding her lips open, teasing her clit, to hold her body still.

He kept losing her clit as she shifted. He chuckled at her.

“You fucking like this, you sadist.” Rey shifted again while Clyde moved his tongue away. “I cannot get anywhere.” Rey tried to move, but he caught her. “Okay, okay, lick me like this. Keep your hand on my waist.”

“I want to hold you open and really get that little thing. Stay still.”

“Fuck.”

“Later.”

“Goddamn it, Clyde. I cannot come like this. And well you know it. Let me down.”

With a great laugh, Clyde let Rey go. He did what they both knew he was going to do all along. She plopped on the couch and he folded his giant body on the floor. He opened Rey’s legs and allowed her to lie back comfortably while he returned to his teasing. He licked her everywhere, his big tongue taking giant swipes up and down and all around her cunt. She liked that but was ready for him to zero in again on the most important spot.

She pulled his hair a little, trying to nudge him in the right direction. 

“What you want, girlie?”

“You know good and well, Clyde Logan.”

He lifted his eyebrows innocently. “You not gonna say it for me. You can’t tell me what you need?”

She tried to swat his head, but he ducked and held her hand in his. He kissed her palm and watched her eyes. Then he let her hand go, still watching. She felt his fingers slide down her belly, through her fur, past her clit, and down to her wet pussy. She gazed into his eyes as he slipped one thick finger in her. She tried to close her eyes as the sensation hit her.

“Look at me, girl.”

Rey’s eyes snapped open. She saw their passion—her passion—reflected in his light brown gaze. He added a finger and began to slowly pump both in and out of her. She mewed at him. He dropped his gaze and began to flick her clit with his tongue, increasing speed and pressure, using his fingers to further inflame her. It wasn’t long before Rey fell over the edge, with her man taking her to glory.

They switched places after Rey came down from her orgasm. They didn’t have to talk about it. Rey pulled herself up and off the couch, while Clyde got up off the floor and sat down, thick legs spread, dick pointing upward. He reached for Rey, who got on top of him without a word. She positioned his dick at the entrance to her pussy and lowered herself onto him while he closed his eyes. She watched him enjoy the sensation of filling her up to the hilt. Then she waited. He opened one eye. Rey smiled at him and he sat up. His hand rested on one hip, his arm on the other. She began moving up and down, slowly, making Clyde groan heavily. She messed with him, sometimes driving herself down on him quickly, sometimes slowly, sometimes waiting until he bumped upward with his hips.

All at once, Clyde groaned and grabbed Rey, pitched her back on the couch, and rammed the shit out of her. She welcomed him and wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms around his shoulders. It felt so damn good to have his big body covering hers, his hips and balls slapping against her, while he found his pleasure. Soon, he shouted out his release and dropped his head to breathe loudly in her hair. He groaned.

Afterwards, they cleaned up and lay together, smooshed up on the couch. They dozed. They woke to do it again.

They usually went their separate ways in the early hours of the morning. This morning, though, Rey changed it up for the heck of it. Just to see what he would say—though she couldn’t say why it mattered to her at that moment.

“Why don’t you come over for breakfast?” She saw Clyde look up in surprise. He yanked his t-shirt over his head and stared at her.

“Why?”

“For fun. Why couldn’t we get together other times, like when you have a day off?”

He shrugged, pulling on his pants. “Because we’re doing it this way. Your paw is home, ain’t he?”

Rey gritted her teeth. “Yeah, but so what? He’s probably not up yet. Or we could go to your place.”

Clyde’s eyebrows went up. “Mellie’s home.”

“Doubt it. Bet she’s at Joe’s. Besides, I’m not asking you to fuck me again, Clyde. Just breakfast.”

“What’s this about?”

Rey looked Clyde in the eye, but his gaze slid away while he tied his shoes. “Maybe we could do something different.”

Clyde tapped his fingers on the office desk. “Don’t know that I want to do something different. And I don’t want to bother your paw this morning.”

Rey sighed.

“Got to go, baby girl.” He bent and dropped a kiss on Rey’s temple. “See you next week.”

Rey drove to her grandfather’s home, disappointed. She couldn’t believe that Clyde didn’t wish to eat breakfast with her. It wasn’t because of her grandfather, because he and Clyde got along just fine. It was her fault. She should have gotten her own place when she moved back to town. She hadn’t thought about living somewhere else because she always lived with her adopted grandfather, Doctor O.W. Kenobi, and his longtime fellow physician and partner, Doctor Anakin S. Walker. They had taken her in when she was abandoned at the hospital as a toddler. Kin had died a while back, and Paw was retired now. He wasn’t as spry as he used to be and needed Rey’s assistance around the house. 

<>

During the next week, Rey pondered her situation with Clyde. She stared at the TV during breakfast, supposedly watching the weather, but actually thinking about what was going on with her sweetie. She considered a couple of possibilities. Maybe he didn’t want her—or, worse, didn’t love her anymore. Rey tossed that idea around while sipping her morning coffee, but it didn’t ring true. No, Clyde loved her, always had, and with that love came desire. That couldn’t be the issue, unless he was trying to hide their relationship. True, they used discretion in meeting on Fridays, but Rey chalked that up to their living arrangements and Clyde’s natural modesty. He was a very private individual, not prone to discuss his affairs with anyone.

He could be mad at her, though she didn’t exactly know why, and the man wasn’t much for explaining his feelings. He’d talk her ear off about that damn Logan curse, or tell other wild stories all day, but if he didn’t want to talk about a topic, he wouldn’t make so much as a peep. Rey couldn’t guess what the hell he was mad about and she’d be damned if she’d try. She crossed that idea off the list.

Rey knew he didn’t like change, didn’t usually seek it out, didn’t trust it when it was thrust upon him. He enjoyed the routine of his life, and he had found a way for Rey to fit into that pattern. Done and dusted. She could understand Clyde’s aversion to change because she shared it. Change was frightening and it meant that routines became unstable. With instability came a lack of control. However, Rey believed it was time to do something different. Lots of water had rushed under the bridge of their long-term relationship and the past was long gone. They were hovering in limbo.

After dinner while washing the dishes, Rey considered the wisdom of breaking the unspoken deal between herself and Mr. Clyde Logan. She could either stop seeing him on Friday nights to jolt him out of his complacency. Or she could go find him and bug the shit out of him until he talked to her.

Yep, that was the one. Stop seeing Clyde? Ha, who was she kidding? She was much better at bugging the shit out of him, like she had done in years past.

Rey packed up two big pieces of the lemon Bundt she’d made for her grandfather, hopped in the car, and drove to Mellie’s. Clyde’s truck wasn’t there—she forgot that he was at the Duck Tape working. She was about to pull out of the driveway, when Mellie opened the door and waved at Rey.

“Come on in,” she called. “Clyde’s at the Duck.”

Rey reluctantly got out and went inside. She took the cake in with her and left it on their kitchen table.

Rey walked into the living room. “Lemon cake in the kitchen.”

Mellie lounged on the couch with a nail file in her hand. “I don’t care for lemon Bundt, Rey, but thank you anyway. You want me to do your nails?”

“I’m okay, Mel. The cake’s for Clyde.” Rey sat on a chair across from Mellie.

“Looking for Clyde, huh?”

“Uh, yeah,” Rey said. “Forgot he works tonight.”

“He works every night. You know he’s not gonna be with you.” Rey stared at Mellie, who was calmly filing away. Mellie raised her eyes to meet Rey’s and pointed with the file. “Nope. He doesn’t feel right about being with a woman after all he’s gone through. Plus, that stupid Logan curse thing. He’s got that all up in his mind. He says he can’t love anybody because he would risk hurting them with the curse.”

That did sound a lot like Clyde. Rey said nothing.

Mellie sneaked a peek at Rey’s face. “Also, he says he doesn’t feel like a real man. He says he can’t be with someone because of his arm being gone and all.”

“It’s his hand, Mellie. His arm is still there.”

“Oh, I know that, but you know what I mean. He doesn’t think he’d be able to be a good husband. He can’t do shit around the house and he’s got that PTSD stuff where he jumps at loud noises and wakes up screaming.”

“So, you’re saying between the Logan curse and PTSD, Clyde does not want to be in a relationship.”

“Yep,” Mellie said. “You may as well quit chasing him.”

“I see.” Rey squeezed her hands together.

“I see you there staring at him every Friday night. You broke his heart once. Why don’t you quit lurking around and leave him the hell alone? He’s sensitive and he doesn’t understand relationships—or women, for that matter.”

Rey stood. “Well, this has been an enlightening chat. I’m grateful to you, Mellie, for clearing things up for me. Clyde understands me just fine, thank you. And I understand him better than you do. I will see myself out.”

“Stay away from my brother.”

Rey turned at the doorway. “That’s not up to me. Speak to Clyde if you want him to stop seeing me. Go ahead and see what he says.”

<>

Rey drove home from Mellie’s place. She went inside and curled up on the couch, staring at a book in her lap. Her grandfather dozed in his easy chair.

Waking up screaming, that’s what Mellie said. Rey chewed on that idea for a while. She added it to the list of possible reasons that Clyde didn’t want to take their relationship further. He had changed, he said. He wasn’t the same as when he had left for the Army. Although Rey didn’t love Clyde less because of his missing hand, she did remember the shock when her grandfather called her and told her Clyde had been injured. It had been a horrible time. She had wanted to run to him at the VA hospital, but Paw said that they weren’t allowing outside visitors. Clyde didn’t want anyone to see him. Rey tried to reach out by sending him cheerful cards. No reply. Paw said he thought Clyde needed to heal in body and spirit and that Rey needed to give him some time.

He wasn’t the same, Rey reminded herself. He wasn’t the same boy she had dated in high school and fell in love with. He wasn’t the same inside or outside. None of this was easy for him. He didn’t want pity and he didn’t want to think of himself as less than whole. If Mellie was right, Clyde didn’t think himself capable of much.

Rey sighed and put her book aside. She said goodnight to her grandfather and went to bed. Sleep was elusive. Rey tossed and turned, winking back hot tears, wishing for something different. Wishing Clyde was whole. Wishing she had come home sooner to be with him, regardless of his reluctance. She fell asleep and dreamed that Clyde was there. She almost smelled him in her dream, his hot musky arousal, his warm masculine scent mixed with plain white soap. She almost felt the tickle of his hair and a graze of soft lips against her arm.

Rey woke to find Clyde in bed with her, as he had in the past, before he went to the Army. His body didn’t fit well in her single bed back then and he was even bigger now. His prosthesis scratched Rey’s arm before he removed it and dropped it on the floor. Rey wrapped her arms around him and held him close to her, sobs smothered in his neck. He shushed her softly.

“I’m here,” he breathed in her ear. “I love lemon cake.”

Rey couldn’t speak. She held him while he ran his hand up under her sleep shirt to touch her skin. Like they had done so often before, Clyde snuggled behind Rey and pulled her leg up on him. He unzipped his pants and pressed himself into her slowly, while Rey moaned into her pillow at the sensation of being filled by this big man. 

“I can’t take care of you from this angle,” he murmured in her ear. “I’m on the wrong side.”

Rey nodded and touched herself while Clyde thrust in and out of her body, his breath coming faster. He moved slowly so the bed springs didn’t squeak too loudly. Rey bit her pillow as she came, feeling deep spasms throughout her body. Clyde nipped her shoulder and licked the spot. Then he rolled her over on her knees to push into her from behind. The springs squeaked less that way as they moved together. Rey knew Clyde came when he stiffened behind her and bit back a groan. She felt his orgasm rippling through him as he gripped her hip tighter.

They lowered themselves slowly back down to the bed. Clyde kissed Rey, tiny kisses on her forehead, cheeks, nose, and lips. Their breathing matched. Rey felt sleepy and peaceful next to him and knew that she wanted this feeling forever. She wanted to wake up beside him every day in their own home.

When she moved back to town to work in Boone County, she hoped to have a home of her own with a husband someday. Her vision had been hazy because she couldn’t envision living with anyone—except Clyde. She now hoped he felt the same. 

Rey woke up to find Clyde gone.

<>

Friday night, Rey walked into the Duck Tape as usual. She eyed Clyde as she skirted the perimeter of the bar. He almost overfilled a shot glass watching her slide up to the bar and sit herself down. Usually she went straight to the back to claim her table and boot up the laptop. She nodded and said hello to those seated nearby, including Clyde’s sister, brother, Sylvie, and Joe. They all exchanged glances, which Rey saw fit to ignore.

Change would do Clyde Logan good, Rey thought, smiling at him. He narrowed his eyes at her. His lips pressed together into a line as he pulled more shot glasses down from the shelf above him and poured carefully. He slid the full shot glasses to various patrons and returned to where Rey sat.

“Miss Rey.” He wiped the spotless bar in front of him.

“Mr. Logan.”

He folded a towel and put it on the bar’s surface. His eyes met hers and he raised his eyebrows. She could tell he was remembering the time they fucked on top of this very spot, laying down towels, sliding around, banging elbows, and trying to find a good position. They had laughed a lot together that night. Clyde had finally carried Rey to a chair to finish, saying he was too worried about falling off and breaking something. She’d called him a sexual stick-in-the-mud, so he shoved her against the nearest wall and fucked her standing up, holding her body with one arm just to show he could. It had been a wild night.

Rey smiled at Clyde. “Pour me a shot, would you, Clydie?”

A muscle jumped under his eye. “Now, Rey, you don’t want a shot.”

“Yes, I would like a shot. Pour me one, please and thank you.”

He stared at her. “You don’t like liquor straight. I’ll make you a margarita.”

“Shot of tequila with some lime and salt, please.”

Clyde drummed his fingers on the bar. He leaned in and looked Rey dead in the eye. “No, ma’am.”

“Why ever not?” Rey’s voice rose a little. She was picking a fight, but she didn’t know why. Maybe she had to shake things up a bit—force a change in their relationship. Make him acknowledge her.

He looked around at the patrons, including his family, who were beginning to watch the Clyde and Rey show. “You don’t like straight liquor. It doesn’t set well with you.”

“I don’t care. Just pour it. You’re the bartender.”

At that very moment, Rey watched Clyde Logan lose his temper. His mouth tightened and his expression hardened. Rey blinked at him a couple of times. She wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed because he was so stone-faced all the time, but she saw it.

“Look here, puddin’,” he said through gritted teeth. “Don’t make me put you over my knee in front of all these nice people. I said no.”

“So, if you’re not just the bartender, then, what are you? Why do you get to decide what I do or don’t drink?”

“Outside.” Clyde turned and stomped around the bar. He ripped the door open with a bang and slammed out the door.

Jimmy whistled and stood up. “Playing with fire tonight, Rey? He’s madder than a fucking hornet. Don’t bode well.”

“What in the Sam Hill are you doing? He doesn’t understand you.” Mellie stared at Rey, shaking her head.

Rey ignored them all and stood up.

Joe called to Rey as she walked by. “Go get him, tiger. Don’t let him whoop your cute ass.” 

Mellie swatted him. “Stop looking at her ass, goddamn it.”

Rey walked out of the bar to find Clyde standing by the railing, looking out over the parking lot. Cars were starting to pull in.

He turned to her, but Rey interrupted him. “You gotta go back in. Those people are going to want drinks. Maybe I should just go.”

“Goddamn it, Rey.” He waved one hand at her. “What are you trying to do? Show me that I’m just a fucking bartender? You think I don’t know that? Fuck.”

Rey looked at her feet. “No, to show you that you’re more than that to me. You care about me. You know who I am. You…” She swallowed the lump in her throat. They hadn’t said that they loved each other since high school. Rey stopped herself from presuming that she knew his feelings. Maybe he didn’t love her anymore.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’ll stop playing games. It’s not fair.”

“No, it’s not. I don’t mess with you in front of other people.” Clyde blew out a breath. “I need to go back in.”

“Can I stay, Clyde?” Rey asked. “If I hang out in back?”

He looked at her from the doorway. “Yeah, it’s Friday.”

Rey ran up to the door. “Thank you.” Clyde held it open for her. As she walked in under his arm, she got a poke from his prosthesis.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey, nothing. Be glad you ain’t going over my knee.”

<>

Clyde was still angry, Rey realized, when he closed the bar. He was quiet, distracted, when she started touching him. The teasing was missing, the fun dampened. He still made sure she was satisfied, but there was no edging, no playfulness. He moved on her with a sense of purpose, a kind of determination, as if marking his territory. He ate her out hungrily and made her come hard and fast. Then he took her in a way she hadn’t experienced before, as an alpha male with his mate. He controlled the movements and positions, and though he wasn’t rough, exactly, he made sure she knew he was in charge of the lovemaking. Rey was breathless as he placed her body where he wanted her, nipped her a little too hard sometimes, and pinned her down to take her.

Afterwards, Clyde lay on the couch next to Rey with his arm over his eyes. She stroked his chest.

He looked at her with tears in his eyes. “Don’t do that shit to me ever again. All right? I can’t work as many jobs as other people. This is what I can do.”

Rey nodded, feeling guilty as fuck. “I know. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m sorry.” She fought to keep the pity off her face.

“What do you want me to do, Rey? Just fucking ask.”

Rey pondered that question. “Come to breakfast at my house, please.”

“All right.”

<>

Rey cursed herself as she drove home to meet Clyde. Paw was likely to be up. Maybe. She didn’t know, but it was not the time for a family breakfast. This was not at all what she intended.

She was lucky. Her Paw was still asleep—he slept later these days. Definitely not as hardy as he once was, especially without Kin. They had lived and worked together for a long time. Supposedly, they were two bachelor doctors sharing a house and taking in a baby girl. Not too many people knew they had been committed partners—or that, in reality, they had been Rey’s parents.

Rey set to cooking immediately. By the time the coffee was dripping, Clyde knocked on the door. She let him in, seeing if she could gauge his mood. He seemed larger than usual in this cozy cottage. He looked nervous and ill-at-ease, and his hair was still ruffled from Rey’s fingers. She reached up and smoothed down a piece that was trying to stick upright. Clyde caught her hand and kissed it. She breathed a sigh of relief that he still seemed to love her.

“Paw’s still asleep. I have coffee.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Clyde walked into the kitchen and sat on a chair.

“Yes, ma’am?” Rey stared at him as she passed him a cup. “Didn’t we move beyond ‘yes, ma’am’ when you had your tongue…?” Rey stopped and pressed her hand to her forehead. She was being snarky.

Clyde gazed at her without expression. “You’re gonna do that? Be that way with me? Again?”

“No. I’m sorry.” Rey kicked herself for driving him away again.

He said nothing else as Rey cooked. She passed him a plate and sat down with hers. They ate in silence.

Rey stood up to refill their cups. “What do you want to say to me, Clyde Logan?”

He took a meditative sip. “I don’t know precisely. I also don’t know why we’re suddenly changing things. You want to be together for real?”

Rey sighed. “Yeah. Don’t you want more, Clyde? To live with someone, to love someone?”

“Yeah,” Clyde said. “I’ve been waiting on you for a long fucking time.”

Rey stared at him. “What the hell?”

“No, listen to me. You went away, got you a fancy degree. You come back here and fuck me where nobody can see.”

Rey’s mouth dropped open. “Clyde Logan, I’ve been waiting on you. You go over to Iraq, not once but twice, join up with that…” she pointed to his tattoo. “That organization.”

He rolled his eyes. “It ain’t an organization. It’s special ops. I was recruited to be an Army Ranger, and I did a good job.”

“I know, and I’m proud of you. But then you come home and don’t say boo to nobody.”

“My hand was blown off because of the Logan curse. What do you want from me?”

Rey took a breath. Now or never and hope that her Paw sleeps soundly. “I want us to be together in public. I want us to have something. I said what I said to get you to acknowledge me. It was stupid, I guess.”

Clyde put down his cup. “Lookie here. I would say all right if I thought that’s really what you want. But you don’t. You want a part-time man to…” He lowered his voice. “Fuck you hard and then leave you be. I know you, Rey. Remember?”

“You don’t know shit,” Rey hissed.

Clyde stared at Rey. He leaned in to speak softly. “I do. I know you. Now, I’ve been in love with you since ninth grade. You clung to me like nobody’s business. Then I asked you to stay with me and you said you couldn’t do it.”

“You were going to Iraq, you damn lunatic.”

“I wanted to marry you before I left the first fucking time.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “I was not going to marry you at the age of eighteen. That was ridiculous.”

“Well, I understood that, but then I go to Iraq, come home, and you’re gone. Where? I don’t fucking know. When I want you, when I need you, you’re gone.”

Rey’s mouth dropped open. “For shit’s sake, I was in school. You know, career? Life? What the fuck, Clyde? Can we be realistic here? I don’t own a bar. I have to make my way in this world.”

His lips pressed together and he tapped his fingers on the counter. “And you can’t do that with me, I guess. You don’t trust me to support you? You don’t want a fucking marriage or family? You’re too scared to connect that tight with anyone?”

Rey gaped at him. 

“I’d marry you today if I thought you wouldn’t freak out and leave me.” Clyde got up and put his plate and cup in the sink.

She jumped up and followed him, hands on her hips. “Me freak out? _Me_? No, sir. How many fucking cards did I send you in that goddamn hospital? You don’t want to see me after you get shot to kingdom come, well, that’s just fine. But don’t say I wasn’t there. I was. You never once responded.”

Clyde leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “I was messed up, Rey. You have no idea what it’s like.”

“No, I don’t. Maybe because you didn’t trust me to know. Did you think I didn’t care about you?”

“I wouldn’t let nobody near me.” He rubbed his face. “Not even Jimmy. I didn’t want you to see me, especially since you went and got educated, made a real life for yourself, away from here. You could be with other men, smarter men than me, ones who weren’t in jail. Why the fuck are you back anyway?”

“This is my fault. For leaving.” Rey put her head in her hands. “I got out and left you behind, and I didn’t come back fast enough to suit your taste. Even though you were gone to Iraq. I was supposed to wait for you in Boone.”

Clyde looked at his feet. “I could have supported you. We could have gotten married and made a life together. Why can’t you let me take care of you? Nobody gets to take care of Miss Rey Johnson because she’s got to be so self-sufficient.”

Rey did not care for his tone. She jabbed a finger at him. “Look, I like learning and I like teaching. I want to have a career, you giant bonehead. I’m not your fucking housewife. And you knew that about me in ninth grade, so do not, I tell you, do not come at me like this is news. No, sir, I think you’re shoving me away with some bullshit excuse.”

He slammed a hand on the table. Rey stared at him. “You don’t trust me, Rey. You don’t, never have. You don’t trust anyone in the world to stay with you. Give us all a little tiny part of yourself and keep the rest hidden. I push you away? Yeah, and you push me away, too. You ran from me. Then you wanted to act like it was all kinds of important when my hand got tore off. Oh, poor fucking Clyde. Here, Rey’ll come home and see about him now that he’s all fucked up.”

“You can’t be serious. You’re running harder than I am. You don’t want to commit to me because you think…” Rey stopped. It would be too raw to say it.

Clyde stepped in front of her. She always forgot how tall he was until he stood like an angry bear, ready to swat her down.

“You better go on and say it.” His lips were tight.

“You think.” Rey swallowed. She was in it now. “No one wants you because of your hand. You believe you’re not enough of a man any more to have a wife and family. You’re running just as hard as I am. And you don’t fucking trust me not to give a shit about your missing hand—or the fact that you’re a bartender.”

Clyde blinked hard. Rey swallowed. Fuck. She wished she could take the words back.

“Clyde,” she whispered and reached out.

He never said a word, just turned and left.

<>

Rey was, in a word, devastated. She went through the motions of living her life—with red eyes that she blamed on allergies. Paw never said a word, though he looked over his glasses at her. 

Rey figured that was the end of Clyde and Friday nights. They hadn’t really ever broken up—but it seemed like this might really be the end.

Back in high school, they yelled at each other sometimes. Rey enjoyed parties, Clyde didn’t—so they yelled about that. Rey was forever sucked into meetings and projects and forgot to meet Clyde at appointed times. He hollered at her about that—called her irresponsible, so she beaned him with her bookbag. It felt serious back then, but it usually led to Clyde crawling in the window and fucking the shit out of Rey later.

They didn’t break up exactly when they went their separate ways. They both knew they couldn’t feasibly remain a couple. Clyde lost his mind and asked Rey to marry him, but she said no, not until he came home from the Army. Then, somehow, that idea drifted away. She drifted away, to be perfectly honest. When Clyde was gone, and Rey was away at college, she had boyfriends. She had fun but never fell too seriously in love. Her preference was for back-home boys with big lips and bigger ears. Everyone else seemed hopelessly full of themselves when compared to a lanky young man who could tell a ridiculous story for hours in a deadpan voice.

Rey had a career to nurture and a life to live. She wouldn’t apologize for her choices nor would she rely on a man to take care of her. Clyde could barely take care of himself after his injury. When she came home for a visit, she heard he was in jail for running his damn car through a plate glass window at the Stop ‘n’ Rob. Rey didn’t know what to think about that situation. He had been a damn fool. She went back to the city with no plans of returning home. 

Now here they were, screaming at each other. It was Rey’s fault for pushing herself back into his life. She was asking for a real relationship—without giving Clyde any reason to believe her. He was right. She had left him. Now she wanted more, and he just couldn’t do it.

<>

The first Friday night without Clyde was challenging. Rey took a walk to clear her head and stop herself from dissolving into tears. The mosquitos started coming for her, so she went home and sat on the screened-in porch. She rocked on the swing and listened to it creak along with the frogs, cicadas, and other night creatures.

She wondered what the hell she was doing.

Her Paw came out to sit with her, so she asked him what he thought.

“I’ve kind of been seeing Clyde,” she began.

“Yes, every Friday night. Why are you home?”

Rey opened her mouth and snapped it shut. She took a breath. “How did you know?”

“Everyone knows. This is a small town. People don’t miss much when they see you and Clyde staring at each other. You know, you two could go out on a date sometime.”

Rey stared at Paw. “What?”

“A date. Why do you two skulk around? Is Clyde a… what they call it… I saw it on Doctor Phil. A commitment-phobe? Need me to talk to him? I delivered him, you know.”

“Paw,” Rey said. “You did not.”

“I did. Full head of hair on that one, came out quiet until I whapped his butt. Then he set to yelling.”

“Oh, God. I think we’ve drifted from the point.”

“Well, all right. I will talk to him if you want me to.”

“No, he says I’m the commitment-phobe.” Rey rocked on the swing for a while, listening to it creak. Paw said nothing.

“I’m not, Paw.”

“Yeah, you are. You were dropped off as a toddler. You don’t think anyone’s gonna stick around, so you shove them away first.”

Rey was completely shocked. “I don’t.”

“Oh yeah. When you first came to us, back when Kin was still with us, you wouldn’t let either of us near you. We had to bribe you to get you to bed or take a bath. Lord, girl, you were a tough customer. I tell you what. Hid stuff, threw stuff, bit Kin on the hand, kicked my shins. Feral child. Until you finally, _finally_ understood that we weren’t going nowhere, no matter what you did.”

Rey sat thinking about that time, still creaking and rocking. She could barely remember it, but sometimes there were nightmares about being lost and having no one find her.

“Why you hiding Clyde? I know you’ve loved him since he stole your books and caused you to turn in your homework late.”

Rey laughed. She wanted to beat Clyde’s fucking ass in ninth grade. She flew at him with claws extended and tried to kill him. He had laughed and tried to pick her up. Then he had gone to the teacher and confessed that it was his fault. He took Rey’s detention with her and cozied up to her there.

“I am not hiding Clyde. He’s not willing to be with me.”

“How so?”

Rey rocked some more. “He thinks he isn’t a man anymore because of his hand. He thinks he can’t have a wife and family because he can’t handle it.”

“How you know that?”

“Mellie told me. She said Clyde was having a bad time.”

Paw snorted. “That Mellie Logan has a big mouth. I delivered her all red and scrunched up, yelling her fool head off. Nothing to yell about, baby, I said to her. She gave me a mad look and kept on hollering. I don’t believe she stopped until she was about five. Her momma said she had the colic. She’s still griping and jabbering. Don’t listen to her. You better ask Clyde yourself.”

“He’s got the PTSD, I’m sure.”

“Well, so do you. When those people left you behind, it scarred you, though you were too young to really remember much. So, like Clyde, you relive that moment when something triggers it.”

Rey stopped rocking.

“What triggers it?” she whispered.

“What do you think?” He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug.

“Papa,” she said. She almost never called him that.

“Yeah, baby.”

“I…”

“You better drive up there and ask him directly. You two need to sit down and hash everything out and stop jerking each other around. If you want to be with Clyde, tell him outright.”

“I did but he says I don’t want to be with him because I left to get my career started. He’s mad because I left. He’s mad because I’m back. He’s just plain mad. He says I don’t trust him, don’t really want him full time. He says he doesn’t trust me to stick around. Or maybe he thinks I’m ashamed of him. I really don’t know.”

Paw was silent for a minute, letting the swing creak some more. “How are you going to find out?”

<>

_Please don’t let me get pulled over_ , Rey thought as she drove. She didn’t mean to drive like a maniac, but she had to know if she and Clyde had a chance.

Of course, the West Virginia State Trooper car pulled out of a blind and drove up behind her, lights on. She pulled over and sat, groaning at the delay. She saw a man in uniform crunch up the road to stand beside the car. He knocked on her window and she rolled it down. It was Poe Dameron, from high school. He’d been in the Duck on a few Fridays.

“Hey, Poe.”

“Hey, girl. Going to the Duck?” He smiled at her. “You’re driving kind of fast. What’s up?”

Rey debated what to tell him and decided that maybe the truth would be a good idea. “Clyde and I had a fight. I was going to skip out tonight, but…”

Poe tilted his hat back. “Yeah, better to talk it out than let it fester. Learned that the hard way with Finn. Shit. Clyde being a jerk?”

“No, I am.”

“Well, I know you love him, and he adores you, too. You’ll work it out. Maybe you two should live together or something instead of hiding.”

“Does literally everyone in Boone County know about us?” Rey shook her head.

“Uh, yep.” Poe laughed. “Pretty obvious. Clyde never takes his eyes off you.”

“Okay, all right… yeah, we broke up and now I got to go try and fix it.” Rey put her head on her steering wheel for a second. 

“Want me to talk some sense into Clyde?”

Rey shot Poe a grateful look. “I do appreciate the offer, but I need to do this one myself. Am I free to go?”

“Oh, sure. You can go. I’m bored out here. You want an escort?”

Rey could hardly say no to a State Trooper. Poe drove behind her all the way to the Duck and peeled off with a friendly honk.

<>

Rey wheeled into the parking lot. It was quite full, but she saw a tall, beautiful, thick man leaning on the porch rail, taking a break.

Rey jumped out of her car. She yelled his name and saw him look up. She skidded up in front of him.

His brows were drawn together in a frown.

“Where you been?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Rey was taken aback.

“Where the fuck have you been?” He sounded annoyed.

“We broke up,” Rey said.

Clyde looked at her. “Since when?”

“Saturday morning last week.”

“Didn’t tell me. We don’t never break up, Rey. Never have. You’ve been my girlfriend since ninth grade. You still are. So, where the fuck have you been?”

Rey was getting annoyed. “Don’t you come at me, Clyde Logan. I’ve been talking to Paw and trying to work shit out. We have a lot to talk about. I’m not changing who I am and I’m not sorry for my career.”

Clyde raked a hand through his hair. “I know. I was out of line on that. Jimmy’s wife Sylvie’s been kicking me for days for saying shit like that about your career. She called me a fucking dinosaur and told me to drag my sorry ass into the twenty-first century. She’d stop talking, stare at me, and then fucking start up again. I told Jimmy to get her the hell away from me and the fucker put his head down on the table and laughed. Well, fuck him.” 

Rey hid a smile at the image of Sylvie, a full-time nurse, bitching at Clyde. “What else have you been doing?”

“Working. Yelling at Mellie.” He stood up away from the railing. “She’s got a big fucking mouth.”

“She tell the truth about you?” Rey looked at him.

“Maybe back then, yeah, but that was before I got physical therapy, then a new fancy-shit hand, and some help with the PTSD. It’s not perfect. Well, fuck, neither am I. But I can do so many things that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do. I make my life work. I own a bar and I make good money. I do pretty much everything I need to do. I can hold my dick to pee and wipe my own ass.”

“Well, that’s just disgusting,” Rey said. “I did not need to know that about you.”

“Get used to it. A man’s gotta shit in his own house.” Clyde leaned in for a kiss. Rey raised up on tiptoes to press her lips to his.

“Are you buying a house to shit in?” She squinted at him.

“Only if you are buying it with me. I heard you career women got some cash to help a man out.”

“Do I have to watch you shit?”

Clyde’s lips twitched. “Not unless you’re dying to see the Clyde shit show.”

“Not really. Listen, I didn’t come here to talk about your shit.”

“All right. I’m listening.”

“I came here to tell you that I have PTSD, too, from when I was little. Paw told me. He and Kin put me in therapy a long time ago, but I don’t really remember it too well. You’re right. I have been too scared to make a commitment because I don’t trust hardly anybody. I push everyone away before I get hurt, and I’m not very nice about it.” 

Rey took Clyde’s hands, flesh and mechanical, in hers. “Clyde, I’m so sorry I hurt you—so sorry for everything. I want our life together to work.” 

Clyde leaned down to kiss her again. He sighed. “I know it’s hard for you. I’m sorry I yelled at you about it. I was an asshole.” He pulled his hands out of her grasp and bumped his fist on the railing of the porch a couple of times. “Do you trust your Paw?”

“Yeah,” Rey said. “And I trusted Kin.”

“He was a good man. I’m sorry you lost him.”

“Thank you.” Rey paused.

“Rey-Rey, do you trust me?”

Rey looked at Clyde for a long moment. It’d been a minute since he had called her that. 

He was asking perhaps the most important question of Rey’s life.

This man standing in front of her had claimed to be hers and hers alone since he was fifteen years old. He’d been tall, skinny, all ears, nerdy, smart, and quiet. He had chosen her above all others and was still choosing to love her every day. He’d watched out for her, protected her, smiled at her, held her, joked with her, talked to her, kissed her, and, finally, made love to her—since that time. He had already proposed to her long ago. He had given her space and time, even if he’d been sad and grumpy about it. He had never ever broken up with her. He had left her to serve his country and try to do some good in the world. He was not perfect—he had shut her out, but she sure could understand why. He had faults and he would undoubtedly make mistakes. He would probably piss her off on a regular basis.

But, for shit’s sake, how much more evidence did she need that she could trust him—now and forever?

Rey sobbed out a raspy “yes” and flew at Clyde. He picked her up and nuzzled her.

“You gonna make an honest man out of me, finally?”

“Yes!”

“You have to be okay with making some changes.” Clyde set Rey on her feet.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not the one worried about making changes.”

“You’re just as bothered by it as I am.”

“Fine. We will make changes together.”

“Okay. Just…can we go slow and check with each other? No running away?”

“Yep. I like the sound of that.” Rey patted his chest. She looked up into his eyes. “Clyde, are you okay with the Logan curse?”

He nodded slowly, looking around the parking lot. “I figure adding another Logan is going to dilute it. Jimmy thought so, too, and that’s why he went ahead and married Sylvie last year. And now I’m marrying you. Should fix the whole thing right up. Come on, we got to tell them what we’re doing.”

Rey shook her head over Clyde’s interesting theory about Jimmy. She could have sworn he married Sylvie because he loved her. But Clyde had his own ideas about people’s motivations.

She hugged his waist as they walked into the bar together. “You’re not marrying me just to stop the curse, now, are you?”

Clyde looked down at Rey. “Only a little.” He kissed her temple.

She poked his ribs. “Don’t you dare say that out loud to anyone.”

Clyde gave Rey a squeeze. “Come on behind the bar with me and we can tell everyone the news from back there.”

Rey raised her brows. “You’re going to announce our engagement? Why, Clyde Logan…”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Yes, I am. We’re going public, baby. You got something to say about it?”

“No, not at all.” Rey grinned at Clyde. “I love you, that’s all.”

“I love you, too. Always have. I’m gonna tell every-fucking-body about it right now.” Clyde nudged Rey behind the bar with him.

Mellie, Joe, and Sylvie sat in seats right up at the bar. Jimmy poured drinks while Clyde was on break, but he stepped around to sit with Sylvie when Clyde and Rey came back in. The place was humming along well until Clyde turned off the sound system and TV sets.

Mellie glared at Rey, who gave her a sweet smile. She would marry Mellie’s brother and make him happy for the rest of her days, and Mellie could take a fucking hike.

“I’d like to have everyone’s attention for a moment.” Clyde’s big baritone voice rang out. All conversation stopped and the patrons looked at each other. “This very evening, Miss Rey Johnson has finally agreed to marry me. She and I have been together since we were fifteen years old, and we will make our relationship official, legal, and binding very soon. The Logan curse is officially broken. Drinks are on the house tonight.”

A huge cheer rang through the bar, for Rey and Clyde or the free drinks—or both.

It didn’t really matter to Rey. Clyde was holding her up with one arm and kissing her deeply in front of everyone.

<>

The wedding was held at the Duck Tape where Rey and Clyde had spent so many nights enjoying each other. They could point out all the places where they had made love—the exact tables, chairs, couch, and, of course, that big bar. Yet on that gorgeous wedding day, at that moment, they were spiffed up proper, standing in front of the pastor, who pronounced them husband and wife. Rey stood on tiptoe and joyously kissed her new husband, the only man she ever loved.

While the reception swirled around them, Rey and Clyde engaged in whispered debate about whether to consummate their nuptials on the couch at the Duck or elsewhere. They wisely decided to go back to their cozy new home and fall into their big, comfortable Clyde-sized bed. 

They stayed there for a day or two, enjoying each other—until Clyde decided that Joe Bang was likely giving out free drinks to his idiot brothers and running the bar into the ground. And so Clyde went back to his routine, with Rey sitting in the back almost every evening, smiling at her husband while he made drinks and winked at her from across the room.

<>

One night, long ago, Rey and Clyde lay together after making love, their hot, sweaty bodies sticking to one another in Rey’s small bed. Clyde whispered his love and promised to be Rey’s forever.

“I don’t say it because I have to, Rey-Rey. I say it because I want to. I could go off and be with other girls. But I love you and I don’t plan to love another. You’re my first, my last, and my only, and I will be yours forever. I would be a good husband to you, and I believe we could work out our differences like always. We have to think on every situation and trust each other. I know you don’t judge me, baby. If you did, I wouldn’t be laying here with you now because you know I’m a criminal. And I don’t judge you because I see you do your best every day. It’s a miracle you want to get up, go outside, and talk to other people. The shameful way the world has treated you makes me mad. We will both do the best we can—and we are always better together.”

“I can’t marry you, Clyde. Not right now,” Rey had whispered back. “Even though I love you more than life itself.”

“It’s okay, baby girl. I can wait for you. You’ll marry me someday. I love you today and tomorrow, every day, every week, forever.”


End file.
